Variety (November 1925)

Wednesday, November 18, 1925 VAUDEVILLE REVIEWS VARIETY 19 WINTERGARTEN Berlin, Nov. S. Most of the acts on this month's program have been here before. The Ida Troupe of seven girls and one man open the show with an aerial act. They are new to Berlin, with the turn more of a display than of artistic merit. It consists mostly of posing on hanging nickel apparatus. Schwarz Bros. In their sketch, "The Broken Mirror," follow, and a good comedy success, although here often. Elroy, armless wonder, here last ■«a8on. Although more of museum (freak) act, he Is one of the suc- cesses. Linga Singh, billed as East India Illusionist, has nothing new but an elaborate stage setting. A No. 1 showman. Six Galenos, Ital- ian acrobats with good tricks. Paul Remos and his midgets found ap- preciation. Went big. Alberty Troupe of Aeriallats; tra- peze and casting act. Those kind always do well at this house, al- though they belong more to a circus program. Lio Castino of the Metropol, Ber- lia; H. Ninlowa of the Landesthea- ter, Prague; Jansen-Jacobs, ballet- master of the Scala, Copenhagen, and Walter Kron have a dancing act. They perform a series of dances In the classical and modern •tyle. Fair. Bell's Chinese Qladlators, six Chinamen, give an exhibition of fencing and Juggling with spears, swords and other arms, more or less interesting to the audience. Anyhow, It Is something different, and there- fore apprecii^ed. Nlcol and Martin, two American eccentrics, close the show. Although here not so long apo they met with food success and held the audience. All in all an average bill. At- tendance fair. SCALA VARIETE 'V Berlin, Not. 4. First of November was the fifth anniversary of the Scala after be- ing remodelled 1 from an ice skating palace Into a vaudeville house. Since that time the Scala worked up to the most prominent variety theatre in Germany and the east- ern part of the European contlnen* In reference to quality of perform- ances and financially! The house, well decorated and furnished with comfortable seats, Is. In a part of Berlin where the better class of business people re- side. The shows are run In some ways In the American style. In two parts with an intermission. In other German variety programs it was and is still In many cases custom- ary to have Intervals between ihe acts to set the stage and .some- times for long music numbers. This tears the p^oRram to pieces. This month's program Is of ave- rage value. Joe and Fallon, ec- centric dancers, man and woman. do well. Flying Potters, comedy trampolln and casting act, of two young, good looking fellows, woman and comedian, do very well al- though they follow a good humstl- bumsti act by Green, Wood and Violet. Francis Dorny, man of good ap- pearance, does an artistic musical act on mouth organs with some dancing. Charles Illeneb, with his five trained lions. Is considered a head- liner, but caused some nervousness among iho audience. Two Blessings, good looking wo- man and man in a refined hand balancing act, were appreciated. Harvard, Holt and Kandrlck, the basket-ball act on bicycles, Gomez Trio, two men and one woman. In Spanish songs and dances; John Olms, manii»ulator with watches, and Rupert Ingalese, juggler, com- plete the average bill. Business good. PALACE After last week's ail-British bill the vani-shing Americans returned to the Palace this week. Nine acts that click with the regularity of a subway turnstile and down in the second after intermission spot, that bugaboo of the .HinRle-tracked book- ers, a sketch. A .sketch that goals them and qualifies as one of the most interesting acts on the bill, WlUard Mack in his own "Kick In" (New Acts), a revival of 13 years ago from the vaudeville pup that grew into the legit police dog of a decade ago. Some of the boys who would rather play a truckful of drapes and an armful of saxophones should get a load of "Kick In." They lapped it up. But the high light of the evening was the dancing of the Marvelous Lockfords, closing the first hulf, and the comedy clowning of Al and Fannie Stodman, switched to next- to-closing afte^r the matinee. Ths Stedmans .swapped with Mo.sa and Frye, turning over their No. 4 berth to the colored convcraatlonallsts. The switch was a happy man- agerial bit of strategy, for with all due credit to the colored artists, it is doubtful if their slow talk could have followed the comedy dramatic Mack punch. On the contrary, the Stedmans. with their flawle.ss nut comedy and real talent, breezed through to one of the hits of the bill. Fannie Is Just another produc- tion mime wailing for a Columbus, and her talented brother Is the last word la opposites. The Stedmans are all the nut acts In the world, concentrated. The show started with a rush when the Vardel Brothers ran through an intricate routine of hand-to-hand lifts, topped off with ihelr flash trick, a dive from the flies onto a chute for a full twist- ing foot-to-foot catch. The under- stander hangs from wrist loops be- fore the dive. It's a breath-de- stroyer and blood pressure prompter. They took plenty of bends follow- ing. Deucing were the Three Aus- tralian Boys. The boys have It, but to climb out of the deuce s^)ot they will need to replace at least their closing number, which is of ancient vintage. One other song, "When Lizzie Walks In," is either a parody on a pop American song or a bare- faced steal. All three are capable musicians. The turn needs Ameri- canization for vaudeville impor- tance on this side. Dillon and Parker's "Nic Nacs of Now," their latest revue, is now in shape and playing smoothly. The act Is reminiscent, particularly as to songs, but beautifully mounted. The principals are a clever pair with wholesome personalities that sell themselves. The dancing of Alice Kosta and Frank McNeil, the lat- ter a colored boy, scored. The pro- duction Is on a par with anything around and qualifies as consider- able flash. Dillon and Parker look set in their latest. Moss and Frye scored consistently with their seemingly ad lib routine. An obvious gag is inserted In the talk here and th^e, but the body of the cro.ssflre sounds unstudied, the secret of the turn. Close har- mony sent them away safely and also demanded an encore. The Lockfords lived up to their billing, closing the flrst half. They are the sweetest pair of dancers seen in vaudeville In many a day. It Is doubtful If any two dancers any- where can show smoother adaglc work than this team, and the acro- batics and contortioning of the girl are an optical treat. The act pan- icked them. After Intermission Juliette Dlka with her French accent and cork- ing routine of songs added a touch of class. One song, "Beautiful t-ggs, • seemed to be received with considerable bewilderment by the metropolitan morons. The song is ^^^^y- M'ss Dika's accent makes It 'Beautiful Legs," and her cos- tume puts the accent on this inter- pretation, Just what is aimed at. Her martial .song. "Soldier's Dream " sung In fetching white uniform, closed, but she was forced to encore with "Juliette." a parody on "Geor- gette." They liked the French girl very much. Corinne and Dick Himbor, vlolln- ing and dancing, assisted by a pianist, held them in remarkably well considering that they got on the stage after 11 p.m. Business healthy but not capacity on the lower floor. Con. HIPPODROME Opera and Ballet rub shoulders with circn-sdom on the current bill at the Hippodrome with at least .some vaudcvillians sandwiched in. The big event waa the *urn ap- pearance of Mme. Johanna Gadskl who previously has held the mam- moth rostrum as a lone star but this week sliares it with plenty of company. It is doubtful if she ever faced a more enthii.siastic and ap- preciative lot than was her lot Mon- day night. Keceptions from dyed-in- the-wool music lovers is nothing now to Mme. Gadski, but coming from a mixed clientele the operatic diva must have boon doubly gratified Spotted No. 7 .she offered a select program of five numbers and all clicked. Lillian Loitzel, repre.senting the tanbark domain, was close runner up in No, 5. in her usual sensational aeriali.stic feats that seemingly held them spellbound and merited the riotous applause. A genuine circus atmosphere was conjured up by way of introducing the aerial star. The set represented the exterior of a "big top" with the Foster (Jirls In- troduced as various side.show at- tractions. The build-up dovetailwi neatly. Another worthy contender for stellar honors was Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland Bronner's ballet diver- tissement, "Dream Fantasies," spot- ted in the getaway and registered heavily both from a terpsichorean and eye feats angle. Jimmy Hussey, a.ssisted by Eddie Hlckey. preceded in tho Eddie Can- tor skit, "Getting a Ticket," which livened up proceedings for the 10 minutes of cross-fire with Hussey stepping out in "one" after the dialog payoff. That brought more laiiS-hs than the r)revioijH dialog. The capacity of the house may have had something to do with the widely .spaced response on the chatter stuff, since more than a few of the laughs never reached further than half way up the au- ditorium, and with the gang on the shelves undoubtedly mUslng plenty. O'DonneU and Blair should not be forgotten either when the com- edy awards are being made. They offered a nifty mixture of knock- about comedy as opener of the sec- ond half that clicked for a bulls- eye. Joe Browning, No. A, was an- other worthy gloom dlapeller, warmly embraced by the mob. Browning's discourse on modern women and their foibles had even the unfair sex shrieking. "The Chinese Revue." featuring Princess Jue Quon Tal and Jo Lo Pas'* Chinese stringed orchestra, provided a novelty flash In the trey. This turn Is a holdover from last week, as is Jack Joyce (horses) which held the opener. Pearson, Newport A Pearson, two men and a girl, got away nicely in the deuce with a com- bination of acrobatics and danc- ing, handled In a manner that is sure fire for anywhere. Supplementing the performance the winners of the Mirror-Univer- sal Movie Contest were Introduced and paraded across the staere. Bdba, girl; Mme. Bee, snake charmer (and carried a snake to prove it); Mile. Pictoria, tattooed girl, and Jolly Irene, fat girl, weight announced. 626 pounds. Irene looks it on the street, too, less tiie usual 10 percent off. Monday morning the tab dailies and a couple of news weeklies caught her being delivered in a truck to the st.aKe door of the State. George St, Leon is manager with the show. Other circus bills have been around. Last sea.son there were a couple or more, but it's doubtful if there has been a better running In- door circus bill or one that will make the children laugh and enjoy it generally than this Hose A Man- del unit. It's certainly a corking bill for Loew's and a money getter. Si LOEW'S CIRCUS (STATE, NEW YORK) Running 77 minutes this tircus bill is nicely pieced together. It has three big acts, opening with Have- mann's An!n-xls. Another Is th< Bostock Riding School, the comedy mechanic act on the big time for a long while, now divided Into two turns, with George and Lillian St. Leon the principals. Th*- other is the Hamamura Jap act of eight peo- ple. There are three other irns. including Marceline. the Hip's clown, also Drake's Dogs, and Boyd and Wallln, besides the side show freaks, all women, and together In one dis- play. Billed as "Loew's Mighty Indoor Circus and Wild Animal Show, the Mil is traveling as a unit over the Loew time as a week stand In all houses played. It was produced by Mandel & Rose, -oew "- "ts. Rather a well-framed circus lot. without phoneys, and every one does something. It looks set for a picture house draw If the picture house can devote an hour or so to this pro- gram. In the Loew houses it takes up the entire vaudeville time. Not the least Is the front of Ute house ballyhoo, with the sawdust, circus streamers and atmosphere. A laree banner hanging over the side- walk of the State reads "Main En- trance." It's understood that the I^oew Cir- cuit is paying a flat weekly 'ary and all transportation, by truck or ralL The sho.. i .irrles 39 oeople. Inside the theatre the ushers are in clown costumes, with the orches- tra leader n' j wearing - c.a-^ and cloak. Near tlie sidewalk are a torn torn player beating a bass drum and a "Turkish" flutist trying to make coocV> strains. They attract .iften- tlon, but Broadway Is pretty noisy for their "music" to penetrate far. As a matinee draw this circus bill should make Its salary alone. At Loew's Metropolitan, Brooklyn, last week it was reported the circus was doing business. Monday nlirbt "t the State, always an off night there, the house was nearly capacity. The picture feature was Marion Davlcs' latest "Lights of Old Broadway." The Japs are leaving the show this week, with Mme. CamiUe's Pomeranians replacing them. These Japs, lately at the Hip, New York, have a showy turn of rlsley work and jugglip" th: •■olds a couple of ace risloy tricks. Havemann gives the show a big start with his Imposing looking lot of beasts, five lions, four leo-n Is and a tiger. Havemann works them well and carelessly apparently, often getting his face close to a snarling lion or the tiger, but as often a lion here or there yawns, probably justly 30 at three or four shows daily. Scttiyig the animal act to open, though, leaves an impression of big- ness and that ca s through. While striking the cage with the drop up. Marceline does a travesty lion bit that fills in aptly. Later the clown does another slapstick stunt, .auu'h- able in a way with its bladders, but Marceline is worth his money on the puMicity that may be gotten through his connection with '.he show. In the first St. Leon turn, straight riding. Mi.ss Lillian does her pretty bareback work, assisted by the Mag- glonl Brothers. The Bostock act. closing, is aa sure fire a L-iugh as ever, more so for these houses. The act carries five horses, and there must be a big car load with the Havemann's animals besides dogs. The Boyd and Wallln act is a teeth-holding turn, with the woman having one end of a loose wire be- tween her teeth with the other end attached to a st.apio. The man does some fine rapid work on the swing- ing wire for a teeth-hold turn. They are of the former Wallin-Leach Trio. Drake's hounds are high ieap- ers. neatly handled. Harry Stone la the ring maiter In proper regalia and does very well, speaking easily and without effort, getting clearly over to the back rail of the State's large orchestra. He Introduces each turn and did so with the freaks, In turn Lundy, giantess <7 f e.ijt 5 Inches); LloneC.e. llon-fice BROADWAY Those who went to the Rlvolt theatre last week and saw the Theo- dore Stepanoff Ballet at the pic- ture house can, if they visit the Broadway this week, see the act again and make a comparison of its reception by an audience In a pic- ture house and in a combination vaudeville and picture house. At the Broadway the fc'tcpanoff turn was just one of seven acts. At the Rivoll it was the only .ict and the audience went wild about It. At the Broadway Monday ni.nht. when the act was given as fully and with the same verve as at the Rivoli, the audience, while expressing its ap- proval, failed to place the applause at the moments when the work on the stage merited It toe moat. That would seemingly indicate that pic- ture house audiences have been edu- cated above Ilinse of vau.l '. ilie as far as danring turns of this order are concerned. At that the Stepanoff act was one of the solid hits of the bill and there were flve hits out of the seven acts. Malinda and D.ade, colored team; Sylvia Clarl;, Billy Glason and Alexandria and Olsen and Their Gang (New Acts) were the hers. It was a bill that held dancing as Its main features. The business Monday night was about on a par with that of the previous week, a number of seats a. the back of the house open for the final show. Cooke, Mortimer and Harvey started the bill with the Bicycle Basket Ball offering. There was a thrill or two in this, but also a little too much stalling in making goals. Sufficient comedy to send It along nicely. It Is a good opening or clos- ing act for the intermediate houses. Malinda and Dade stepped ut In the second spot and were never headed when that boy Dade started stepping. At the finish the audience was asking for more. Harry Holman and Co. In "Bull Dog Sampson" have built along the lines of some of the Holman sketches of the past ' ut falls to carry the kick the previous acta had. Sylvia Clark with Ch. .les Kuhn. her director, slammed iver a solid hit. Sylvia's early material i of the same caliber .she has had In the past, with her burlesque dancing finish the strongest. As an encore the director sings a ballad with MI.1S Clark wielding the I'aton ^..r the orchestra. This sent her over as a solid applause hit. The Stepanoff act hit tho next spot. Next to closing Rilly Glason with his nifties and a cour>l of songs walkWl away with a hit. Glason's personality makes likable somt, material that in other hands would seem shoddy. .Some of his gags have been with lilm for years but he makes them sound fresh. Clo.slng the bill the hoak net of Alexandria and filsen went over with a bang. The feature picture was the Tif- fany production. "Morals for Men," with Agnes Ayres and Conway Tearlo co-starred, giving the house a eouplo of extra namea for the outside. Frvd, AMERICAN ROOF Claimed around Broadwav that tho "Charleston" Is going out at last, with one sure sign the music I)iibliHhers will no longer accept a song with the ri.ime of that relent- less d.ince in its title. At the Amer- ican Itoof Mond.iy night were three s|)eclmens of tliat African strut In an many a<;ts and some more later on when half a dozen kiddies twisted their ankles in a child contest pic- ture following tho v.iudeville. The first half show la a bit over the average for the hoti.se, with the second portion In particul.ar holding somo of the small time's cleverer people. In a.ldltion to the above- mentioned "Charleston.s" thcr» was a good deal of other hoofing of very fair merit and some comedy th;it the 8th avenue amusement seekers at least thought tremendously amus- ing. Mert Walton, next to closing and billed on top. .saw to most of the latter. Its not unusual for a magi- clan to open with comedy in the hope of planting his act right, but for a comedian to lead 'em to think ho is diving Into the realms of magic Is a little different, to say tho loa.st. Walton geta ,away with it, however, on the strength of his personality, lined with a srneroua share of laughable material and some pass* •able vocal endeavors. Four turns apparently new around hero ran from third to sixth and were in order: Lane and Golden, two men with a mediocre comedy and singing routi;io; "Fore," typical pop •fiash"; Kay, Conw^iy and Thomas, versatile trio evidencing considera- able promise, and Hal and Hazel Laiigdon, who.se e.asy comic methods encountered little dilHcuIty (New Acts). Mack and Manus opened briskly with a trapeze routine in which ths shapely and graceful woman part« ner more than held her own. Fol- lowing. Bud and Elinore Coll Illu- minated the deuce spot with somo of the best stepping on the bill. The singing and iustruruenUil work doesn't call for any favorable com- ment, but the Leonard, Rooney and White Imitations, as well as the original dances, seem to be the real stuff. The Jean .Tackson Troupe closed with their Interesting cycle turn to a stay-wlth-'em audience followed by Mr. Keaton and his pet cow In Metro-Goidwyn's "Go West," th« feature film. J7«rk KEITH'S Boston. Nov. 17. Three acts this week save the bill from being very ordinary. The three are the Mosconl Bros., Harry J. Con- ley and Joe Jackson. Jackson Is placed the nearest to headline position—third from clos- ing. He does not use any more time with his act than he ever did. and is, as always, very particular about leaving out all encores. Re- sult: he leaves a house very atronx for him. The Moaconis, with sister Vera, are in fifth position, the usual spot for a ful^stage dancing act as the local bills run. Their act Is alao shy on time, running awlftly and conflned to a short period. For lovers of dancing acts without ths usual furbelows this goes better in Boston than any other. It Is trimmed down to the bone and good all ths way through. Harry J. Conley is spotted third. His "Slick as Ever" is a new act for this territory and much more pre- tentious than his previous act. Th« laughs are atUl there In plenty, with his wise cracks getting a ready re- sponse from those in the know. If anything the act runs a bit too lone and could stand condensing without losing any of its value. Uia plug for Wlllard Mack, who wrote th« act, in a curtain speech, could also be taken out without loss. Ed and Lee Traver in a strong- man act open, with the thrill coming In the last few mlnutns. One of the boys slides down a chute on roller skatea and la caught and held suspended by his partner. The Co- relll Sisters are in second positloa with songs. They run through four numbers, classical or semi-classical. It Is a pleasing turn. In fourth position Is Walter Brower, monologlst, who runs through a few minutes of regular routine monolog, and stepping off strong with his apt poem in defenso of the female of the species. Murray and Maddox, who follow the Mosconis, run along a well- grounded line, but which has been rather worn out In theme for vaude- ville audiences. The blg-eatlns Jane has Just about had her run on the vaudeville stage. Jans and Whalen In a nut comedy act a bit out of the ordinary are on next to closing, with the Four Clo- velly Glrla, an athletic juggling act, closing the show. TAbbev. NEW ACTS Eddie Cooke and Shaw Slaters (I). Cahlll and Willa (2). "Sally, Irene and Mary" with Jers Dol.aney (6). Hope and Martini. DeMille Trio. Alice Booth and Maxlne Freeman. Leonard and Whitney. Chaae and Collins. Brewster-Pomeroy Revue (t). Earle and Rial Revue (7). Ethelyn Clark with Paul ZImm's Orchestra (11). Leo and Mae Jackson. Ida May Chadwl<k. Vera Ross and Clara Edwards. SI Stebblns. Marie Mang. Frank Sinclair and Co. Charles Rellly and Ninette. Rubye Latham. Duo. Jay and Dorothy Hendricks (3). Paul Van Dyke with LIz/.ie wn- son (5). Zemater and DeVaro (t). Patsy Doyle. Dorothy Dilley and Co. (J) _^ DeHaven and n.art (3). , rtey, Conway Thomas (3). Harry Antrim and Betty Vals. Washington Trio. Skit, with Cleveland Dowery md Co. (3). Ham Duncan. YacopI Troupe (8). Itekoma and Loretta. •< ' "BanJo-Land" (7). Dunn and Nelson (L'>. I'.llly .^'tart and Ia^wT ."i.^ir.- - "